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Florence day trips

I will be in Venice for 2 days, Florence 4 days and Rome 4 days and would like to plan a day trip to some wineries near Florence. Any recommendations on Tuscany wine tours or should we consider taking a train on our own? Any specific winery or town to visit ? Furthermore, is 4 days too long in Florence and should I consider spending 1-2 nights somewhere else? In the country?! Thank you in advance for the input! My first trip to Italy.

Aurora, you really can't get to a winery on a train. There are a good number of wine tours that run out of Florence and many of them are rated on tripadvisor.com. These usually arrange visits at wineries, and sometimes add farms and olive oil mills. It could be a really nice day out. You can also check with the tourist office for these wine trips.

A bus trip up to Fiesole is a very easy day trip. Siena is a little more ambitious but still very easy. You can get the bus from the main bus area in front of the Santa Maria Novella train station. Buses are frequent and inexpensive, and for Siena, drop you right in town.

Lucca is easy enough to visit by train from Florence. If you go on a nice day, be sure to walk the walls, or even rent bikes to ride up there.

I think you can easily fill four days in Florence, especially if you are planning to take a day trip or two.

Are you arriving in Venice after a long overnight flight? If so, maybe add a day to Venice, subtract it from Florence. You will be jet-lagged and sleepy the first day or so, and Venice is the perfect place to get over jet-lag, wandering around, getting lost.

Florence is best for lovers of Renaissance art and architecture. But it does make a good base for day trips by train or bus. Pisa and the leaning tower is another possible trip. (You could combine it with Lucca.) Or even the Cinque Terre.

Aurora:
On one of our visits to Florence, in '93, we took the bus from Piazza San Marco, uphill to Fiesole for a day. Spent some time at the ruins which are in the center of town, had a nice lunch at one of the sidewalk cafes, then made a joint decision to walk back downhill...about 5+ miles....delightful, scenic walk with the Duomo in view almost all the way. If you're a walker, try it.

Side note: I had booked the Hotel Quissisana E Vecchio next door to the Uffizi and I blithely asked for the famous "room with a view" (from the movie). I was stunned when the reservationist said, OK. And indeed we were given the key when we checked in...One month after our stay, the Uffizi was bombed by a terrorist group and the Quissisana was collaterally, badly damaged, it had to abandon the building...rebuilt and now a luxury hotel. I will hunt up my pics and post below.

Aurora: I don't know your budget..but we liked the Hotel la Residenza, very reasonable (under $150), on high rent Tornabuoni (sp.)Street where all the high end "boys" are located....Ermenagilda, Versace, YSL, Gucci, Cassini.

Their wire-caged elevator is a classic. Rooms are especially large for Europe....very sizeable bathrooms, rooftop terrace, breakfast room, etc.

Rome...we are fans of The Modigliani on Avenida Purificacion. Quiet place, boutiquey type..also quite reasonable. Many Fodorites share these views of the Modig. A few blocks from the Spanish steps, and actually walk to most sights in town...near Trevi Fountain. I recall one subway stop to Coliseum and Forum. Depending on your walking range, Vatican is a short cab ride (but can be walked to)

In Venice, we've stayed at a few different places over the years and like them all...two that come to mind are the beautiful Mocenigo at vaporetto stop St.Stae (2 stops from the RR Station), walking a short way to the Rialto Bridge, and not too far from Piazza San Marco. The other hotel is The Buccintoro which is out of the more congested parts of the city, also on the Grande Canal across from the Customs Building. It's been totally renovated a few years ago...good views of the city from its windows.